Back To Business

Gotta say… that Lakers funeral was awesome yesterday. Yes, Red’s Army was there. And yes, that’s us much closer to the bar entrance than the parade. Lucky for me and Chuck, we’re both tall enough to stay virtually tethered to the bar… while still getting a fantastic view of the parade.

I’ve got a TON of pictures to go through from the parade… taken by both RedsArmy.com and our readers (thanks for all your emails. Feel free to send more if you’d like). So I’ll have to work on that and post a link or two later. There will also probably be dozens of YouTube clips.

But for now… it’s time to get back to business. And what has shaken out to be the number 1 off-season story right now is resigning James Posey. The Mongoose (I’m REALLY trying to get that nickname to stick) can opt out of the $3.4 million and everyone expects him to do so.

So what will it take? What should it take? What if he leaves? What if he… GULP… goes to the Lakers??

I’m gonna guess that Poz won’t go start somewhere because a team that would look for him to start probably doesn’t have the championship caliber squad he’d be looking for. If he opts out of $3.4 million… what can he expect to get on the open market? $5 mil? 6? At 31, he’s not going to hang around TOO much longer, but he’s proven he’s a perfect guy off the bench that can both defend and hit clutch jumpers.

The real question is how much luxury tax is this team willing to pay? Last season, the luxury tax threshold was $67.8 mil. The C’s payroll was about $74 mil. So that’s about $7 mil. in luxury tax money paid by the team. However… I’m sure they made that, and more, by winning the title (mostly from people like me, who have spent 3 paychecks on championship gear). The cap, and the tax threshold will grow.. but so will the payroll. The players currently under contract (including Posey) push the payroll a little closer to $75 million… but that’s without Eddie House… and that’s without whatever extra Poz could get.

What can the Celtics offer Posey to keep him? Off the top of my very exhausted head… I think maybe 2 or 3 years… $5 or $6 mil. per year could do it. My hope is that he looks around, sees what he has here in Boston… and decides that a $2 mil./year raise and more rings is enough to make him happy. Maybe he looked out over that parade and thought “there’s no way I’ll get this kind of love somewhere else.” Listening to him talk DURING the parade (6:13 mark)… you can tell there is no way he expected that kind of turnout.

My fear is that a Western Conference contender will try to make a move on Posey. Utah, I believe, is under the cap… so I’d expect them to make him an offer. I’m sure some teams out west will offer a mid-level exception (which last year was $5.3 mil) because he was such a lock-down guy on Kobe. Those Western want to get past LA, and Posey will help them. Here’s hoping Poz sticks around.

By the way…. that link is a 30 minute chunk of the rally. You can go here to hear Scott Pollard and Ray live it up… Doc Rivers shocked at the turnout… Wyc Grousbeck guaranteeing another parade (I know… burying the lead)… and Big Baby being a (shirtless) Big Baby.

The Mongoose cant leave. The Cobra won’t be as intimidating if there’s a mongoose on the loose.

Ainge, just cuz you pulled a miracle last year, doesn’t let you off the hook for this year. Posey is already here, you don’t have to go find pieces or scout overseas to figure out what works. It’s a no-brainer, so priority #1, make him an offer he can’t refuse. Pierce may restructure? I know that KG’s contract was front loaded and makes 20+ mil the first 2 years and only 16 mil the last year, so Pierce might take more later?

Priority #2, make some draft magic. I like the picks of nbadraft.net . But a true 7-footer would be nice.

Wyc should be fine with the luxury tax. I’m like a kid in a candy store right now. I’ll take this one, give me two of those, here’s one for you honey. OH and Ill be grabbing some stuff from you too Reds. IM STOCKING UP FOR NEXT YEAR!!

I bleed green in L.A. - June 20, 2008 at 12:26 pm

I don’t believe NBA players renegotiate like NFLers…

I hope Wyc is still willing to pay luxury tax next year…considering he’s probably going to jack up ticket prices…

Sign Posey, he’s your 6th man Danny, lock him down. If he’s still hanging around, Draft Hibbert, with the right coaching he could amazing. Danny has a pretty good nose for the draft, any word on who he’s been looking at?

Lakerhater - June 20, 2008 at 1:57 pm

i dont see hibbert falling past the jazz

the players that i am realistically hoping for are

jason thompson 6’11 forward from rider

devon hardin 6’11 forward from cal (leon powe part 2)

ryan anderson 6’10 forward from cal

pat calethes 6’10 forward from st joes would be great in round 2

marion chalmers 6’1 point gaurd from kansas

gary forbes 6’7 gaurd/forward from umass

alexis ajinka 7’1 center from france

kosta koufos 7’1 center from ohio state

it would be excellent to see nicholas batum, kareem rush, or hibbert fall to the c’s though

papa irish - June 20, 2008 at 4:09 pm

Here’s a reminder of what not to get, Raef and theo ratsh*t finally get the recognition they derserve.